Kolkata: Speculations were rife that Union Home Minister Amit Shah would meet RG Kar rape and murder victim’s family members. However, he did not. Talks were there that he would chart out the course of action for BJP workers for effective engagement in the upcoming bypolls to six Assembly seats of the state. He remained silent.
As Amit Shah concluded his overnight tour of Kolkata, he kept many guessing as he focused solely on the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections and what changes will Bengal experience if the BJP comes to power.
Shah's stoic silence on the biggest civil society furore spilling on the streets of Bengal since the Singur and Nandigram days surrounding the RG Kar MCH rape and murder case was telling.
Shah first took the stage while inaugurating a ceremonial gate at the Petrapole ICP in Bongaon along the Indo-Bangla border. Later he attended a programme to launch BJP’s membership drive in Kolkata. On both occasions, his prime target was the ruling Trinamool Congress of Bengal and its chief Mamata Banerjee.
Stressing that BJP will form a government in West Bengal in 2026, Shah told party workers, "Mamata and her party were jubilant with the fact that our seats had reduced in Bengal (in the Lok Sabha polls). One should not forget that we are a party that had only two seats, but we grew and had a tally of 370 members in the Parliament."
But, Shah was silent on the bypolls knocking on the doors. Of the six seats going to polls on November 13, BJP had won only one; the Madarihat Assembly seat in the Alipurduar district. Shah didn't spare a word to beef up the morale of workers ahead of the polls.
In Bongaon where Shah inaugurated the Maitri Dwar, a joint cargo gate at the Indo-Bangla zero line set up through a bilateral agreement, he outlined the achievements of the NDA government at the Centre and stressed that things would look up only if a BJP government came to power in Bengal.
"Mamata Banerjee claims that the Modi government has not provided funds to Bengal. I want to ask Mamata Didi, over 10 years, how much did the INDI-alliance allocate for Bengal when they were in power? From 2004 to 2014, the UPA government provided Rs 2.9 lakh crore to Bengal, whereas from 2014 to 2024, the NDA government provided Rs 7.74 lakh crore. Mamata Didi says that the Centre has not given funds for the 100-days work scheme. In reality, it is her syndicate that is looting the funds before it reaches the actual beneficiaries,” Shah said.
The Union Home Minister, in the address to party workers, said state-sponsored infiltration was happening in West Bengal. "Bengal today is only hearing the sound of bombs in place of Rabindrasangeet. The only way to put a halt to this is to elect the BJP in 2026,” Shah stressed.
He also had a slight reference to the RG Kar MCH incident while he tried to castigate the Mamata Banerjee-led government on the issue of law and order in the state. But, that too came with a rider; a determined push for a BJP government in Bengal in 2026.
"Once BJP comes to power in 2026, incidents like Sandeshkhali and RG Kar will stop. We have won in Haryana. We will win in Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Then our next target is Bengal," Shah said.
The Trinamool Congress was also ready with its retort. Terming Shah as a “political tourist” in the state, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh said, “We (TMC) have heard all these a number of times and it is nothing new. Even after all these bashings and talks, what has happened in reality is, Mamata Banerjee has come to power for three consecutive times."
"We will work towards ensuring that the fourth consecutive Trinamool Congress government of the Ma, Mati and Manush under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee returns to power in Bengal in 2026," Ghosh said.
The TMC spokesman said the party has already identified 250 out of 294 seats, where it will win convincingly. "Our win is nearly certain in 250 seats. We will work towards winning the hearts of the people on the whole and reach out to those who have voted against us. We will try to convince them of Mamata Banerjee's development agenda and we are certain that they will understand.”
With Amit Shah winding up his daylong state visit with negligible reference to the RG Kar incident and virtually nothing about the coming state bypolls, it will be a litmus test for the saffron party to make its presence felt beyond its north Bengal comfort zone.
